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Self-Monitoring, Opinion Leadership and Opinion Seeking: a Sociomotivational Approach

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Abstract

In complex markets characterized by abundant choice, many people assume the roles of opinion leaders and opinion seekers. Understanding people who gravitate toward these roles is a priority for consumer psychologists, because the effectiveness of large-scale persuasion often depends on word-of-mouth or peer-to-peer communication. In this study we tested a model, inspired by prior research, that included self-monitoring, status motivation and belonging motivation as predictors of both opinion leadership and opinion seeking. Self-monitoring was a significant predictor of opinion leadership and status motivation mediated this relationship. Self-monitoring was not a significant predictor of opinion seeking, but belonging motivation was. The study highlights motivations associated with self-monitoring and also suggests that the sociomotivational bases of opinion leadership and opinion seeking differ.

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Notes

  1. Market mavenism (Clark and Goldsmith 2005; Feick and Price 1987), which is characterized by a high level of involvement with marketplace information and a strong interest in novel products and services, is similar to opinion leadership. Hoyer and Stokburger-Sauer (2007), however, have documented some ways in which market mavens and opinion leaders differ.

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Rose, P., Kim, J. Self-Monitoring, Opinion Leadership and Opinion Seeking: a Sociomotivational Approach. Curr Psychol 30, 203–214 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-011-9114-1

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